Lamp



July 28, 1942.

C. H. CUNARD LAMP Filed Jan. 11, 1940 6/4110 1!. Cunard.

Patented July 28, 1942 STATES PAINT QE FKIE LAMP Claud H. Cunard, San Antonio, Tex. Application January 11, 1940, Serial No. 313,453

1 Claim.

This invention relates to lamps and, more particularly, to an improved lamp for use in conjunction with beds.

One object of the invention is to provide a lamp which is mounted on the lower end of a bed and is controlled from the head of said bed, said lamp being energizable for illuminating the floor beneath the bed and thus shedding light over the area of the floor so that glare which would be annoying to a sick person or baby, will not be present.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lamp which may be built into a new bed during manufacture or which may be attached to a bed already in use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a lamp which will be mounted on the bed in such a manner that the wiring will not be visible and, therefore, the appearance of the bed not marred.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this nature which is characterized by the utmost simplicity and which will be highly efficient in use.

Other objects of the invention, not particularly mentioned in the foregoing, will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the drawing forming a part of my application:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a. bed showing, in dotted lines, my improved lamp in operative position thereon,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows,

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail elevation showing a modified form of switch,

bed, of course, includes side rails I which serve the purpose of connecting the head and foot members and, of course, supporting the mattress and clothing 8. My improved lamp includes a switch 9 which is mounted on a bracket Ill, said bracket I being screwed or otherwise suitably secured to the slat i medially of its length and, consequently, substantially midway of the head member of the bed. The switch, shown at 9, is of the toggle variety. If desired, a switch of the push button type, as shown at II in Figure 3, may be employed.

Mounted on the foot member of the bed medially of its width and beneath the mattress and clothing is a socket I2, said socket having a bulb I3 screwed therein. The socket and bulb I2 and I3, respectively, have been located in a central position so that the rays of light from said bulb will be diffused uniformly over the floor at each side of the bed. A conductor is shown at I4, said conductor extending from the switch 9 and to suitable electric current outlet. A plug I5, of conventional construction, is mounted on the conductor M. The conductor I4 is ex- Figure 4 is a detail perspective view showing a still further modified form of switch,

Figure 5 is an end view showing a slightly modified structure as it would appear attached to a portion of a bed, the portion of the bed being shown in section, and

Figure 6 is a detail side elevation showing a slightly modified lamp arrangement.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing wherein like numerals of reference will be seen to designate like parts throughout the various views, the numeral I indicates a bed which may be of any conventional construction. However, the bed shown at I is formed with a head member 2 and a foot member 3. The head member 2 is provided with horizontally disposed slats 4 and 5 which define an opening 6. The

tended downwardly from the switch 9 and is then extended forwardly through the slat 5 and then laterally along said slat to one of the side rails I. As shown in Figure 2, the conductor is extended along the inner surface of the side rail 1 and is secured to said rail by means of insulated staples IS. The conductor is then led laterally along the foot member to the socket I2 and is, of course, connected to said socket. For the purpose of convenience, the portion of the conductor leading from the switch 9 to the socket I2 will be designated by the numeral H.

The operation of my improved lamp would appear obvious. However, a brief discussion is not thought to be out of order. After the lamp has been installed as shown and described hereinbefore, it is only necessary for a person lying in the bed I to snap the switch 9 off or on for illuminating or extinguishing the bulb I3. The arrangement lends itself particularly well to sick rooms where it is desired to maintain sufficient light to enable anurse or doctor to proceed about the room without difficulty and, therefore, without disturbing a patient in the bed. The improved lamp will also be of great aid to mothers who desire to keep suflicient light in the baby's bed room to permit observation of conditions within the room. As is obvious, my improved lamp will also be of use to timid persons who do not desire to sleep in an unlighted room and at the same time do not wish the glare of a strong light in their faces. As many sockets and bulbs may be employed as is desired.

In Figure 6, I have shown a slightly modified embodiment employing a downwardly disposed reflector I 8 which has a bulb mounted beneath it in such a manner that light will be thrown downwardly from the side rail of the bed, said reflector being mounted on said side rail. In this embodiment, two, or even four, of the reflectors may be used.

In Figure 4 of the drawing, there is shown a portion of the head member of a metal bed, such as is often used in hospitals and other institutions. The head member is provided with a cross piece IS on which is mounted a bracket 20. A switch clamp 2| firmly secures the bracket 20 to the cross piece IS. The bracket 20, as will be seen at 2|, carries a push button and said push button is connected with the lamp and a source of current by the wires 22.

In Figure 5 of the drawing, there is shown a further modification in the form of a U-shaped clamp 25 which is held in place on the lower edge portion of a bedstead by means of a screw 26. The clamp carries on its inner disposed leg a socket 2! and said socket carries a bulb 28. A

control switch 29 is mounted on the other leg of the bracket. It should be understood that the bracket is to be mounted so that the switch 29 will be disposed outwardly and the lamp bulb 28 inwardly beneath the bed. This arrangement is advantageous for the reason that it may be readily installed on beds already in use and will provide means for permitting a nurse or other person to turn on the lamp from the foot of the bed and without disturbing a patient lying in the bed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a device of the class described, the combination with a bed having head and foot members, a socket, a switch, and a U-shaped clamp mounting the socket and switch on the foot member, said U-shaped clamp having legs, one of said legs mounting the socket and the other of said legs mounting the switch, said switch being mounted on the outermost leg and said socket being mounted on the innermost leg, and a screw extending through the legs and retaining the clamp in position on the foot member.

CLAUD H. CUNARD. 

